The Philippines' state-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has allotted PHP2 billion for additional investments in the local stock market. GSIS projected that the domestic capital market would yield a double-digit gain next year. This was according to a report published by Inquirer.
GSIS president and general manager Robert Vergara said the government firm wants to take advantage of the projected income opportunity from the local market next year. He also said the GSIS will most likely stick to higher-yielding stocks than fixed-income instruments, the report said.
According to Vergara, the GSIS has approximately PHP725 billion in investible funds. Almost 17% of this is in equities and 45% is in fixed-income instruments. The rest of the funds are in cash and other assets. Vergara said PHP2 billion of the fund's cash could be used for additional investments, said the report.
Vergara also mentioned that the GSIS was interested in investing in the banking industry. He said the state-run firm is eyeing a few banks including Bank of the Philippine Islands and Philippine National Bank. These banks have annouced equity issuance before the end of 2013, Inquirer reported.
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